This invention relates to non-lethal personal defense devices and, more particularly, to personal defense devices capable of delivering a precisely-controlled aerosol plume that is capable of effectively and rapidly incapacitating an attacker.
In the array of defensive weaponry, there is no viable, safe defensive alternative to the firearm. While society is increasingly reluctant to combat violent behavior with violent countermeasures, this same society demands a greater level of protection against those individuals and groups who actively employ violent means.
The human hesitancy to dispatch a potentially lethal force is a significant cause of violent injury to police in the line of duty. A police officer may be left without an alternative to lethal force, especially when the attacker is closing at speeds sufficient to cover 15 feet in less than a second.
Handheld aerosol devices have been available for many years. However, at present there are no standards for handheld aerosol devices. This has left the commercial marketplace with substandard devices which are incapable of delivering accurate, respirable aerosol doses directly to the lungs or a metered topical spray to the face, skin, eyes, nasal cavity, mouth and throat. Uncertainty as to the effectiveness of these devices results in the tendency to overdose an attacker to insure absolute containment and control.
Prior art handheld aerosol devices typically utilize oleoresin capsicum (OC), commonly known as pepper spray, in an oil-based solution. Standard commercial atomizers do not effectively disperse such solutions into a reliable mist. As a result, most solutions contain about 5% active agent, whereas an optimized solution should be about three times as concentrated. Furthermore, most standard commercial atomizers create droplets that are much too large to be effectively taken deeply into the lung, even though these aerosol devices would have greater effect if targeted for the lungs. The effectiveness of aerosol spray devices is ultimately measured by the delivery of bioactive agents, such as OC aerosols, directly into the lungs at less than 10 micron particle size, which is necessary for inhalation efficacy. The inflammation of the oropharynx, bronchioles, alveolar ducts, and mucus membranes occurs on contact with typical bio-active chemical agents such as OC aerosol. The physiological impact due to lung and respiratory tract inflammation immediately pulls blood flow from the body""s extremities at rates sufficient to incapacitate continued muscular exertion in most people.
Personal defense devices which utilize an aerosol spray are disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,602,399 issued Aug. 31, 1971 to Litman et al; 4,624,389 issued Nov. 25, 1986 to Ang; 5,000,347 issued Mar. 19, 1991 to Tran; 5,397,029 issued Mar. 14, 1995 to West; 5,509,581 issued Apr. 23, 1996 to Parsons; and 5,570,817 issued Nov. 5, 1996 to Anderson et al.
Another type of non-lethal personal defense device involves the application of an electrical shock to the attacker. A device for projecting two continuous parallel streams of conductive fluid is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,971,292 issued Jul. 27, 1976 to Paniagua. The streams of fluid are held at different electric potentials so that when they impact a target, an electric circuit is completed, thereby causing a current to pass through the target.
All known prior art non-lethal defense devices have had one or more drawbacks, including but not limited to lack of effectiveness in incapacitating the attacker, difficulty in use under highly stressful conditions, risk of serious injury or death to the attacker and lack of reliability. Accordingly, there is a need for improved non-lethal personal defense devices.
According to a first aspect of the invention, a personal defense device that may be carried by a user is provided. The device comprises a housing, a nozzle having a discharge orifice, a control valve coupled to the nozzle, a pressurized source containing a bio-active agent and coupled to the nozzle, a rangefinder for determining a range to a target, a trigger mechanism for activating firing of the device and a firing controller. The firing controller is responsive to activation of the trigger mechanism and to the range to the target determined by the rangefinder for operating the control valve to discharge an aerosol plume of the bio-active agent through the nozzle.
In one embodiment, the discharge orifice of the nozzle may comprise a mist orifice for discharging a pulsed mist aerosol plume and a spray orifice for discharging a pulsed spray aerosol plume. The pulsed mist aerosol plume may be utilized when the range to the target is relatively short, and the pulsed spray aerosol plume may be utilized when the range to the target is relatively long.
The control valve may be implemented as a rotary nozzle and a nozzle drive mechanism. The rotary nozzle is rotatable between a mist position wherein the mist orifice is connected to the source, a spray position wherein the spray orifice is connected to the active agent source, and an off position. The nozzle drive mechanism rotates the rotary nozzle to and between the mist position, the spray position and the off position in response to the firing controller. The firing controller may include means for automatically operating the control valve to switch between the mist orifice and the spray orifice in response to variation of the range to the target.
In another embodiment, the source comprises a first container with a bio-active agent and a propellant that are optimized for producing a spray aerosol plume and a second container with a bio-active agent and a propellant that are optimized for producing a mist aerosol plume. The firing controller comprises means for selectively operating the control valve to connect the first container to the spray orifice or to connect the second container to the mist orifice.
The firing controller may include means for automatically operating the control valve to switch between the mist orifice and the spray orifice in response to variation of the range to the target. The firing controller may also include means for varying a pulse width of the pulsed spray aerosol plume when the spray orifice is connected to the source and means for varying the pulse width of the pulsed mist aerosol plume when the mist orifice is connected to the source.
According to a feature of the invention, the device may include means for determining a velocity of the target from sensed range values, and the firing controller operates the control valve in response to the determined velocity. According to another feature of the invention, the device may include means for determining an acceleration of the target from sensed range values, and the firing controller operates the control valve in response to the determined acceleration. Thus, the firing controller may operate the control valve and thereby control the aerosol plume in response to sensed range, velocity, acceleration and/or any other parameter of interest.
In a further embodiment, the discharge orifice of the nozzle may comprise first and second spray orifices for discharging first and second spray aerosol plumes, respectively, that are capable of conducting an electrical current. The device may further comprise a high voltage generator coupled to the first and second spray orifices for applying a high voltage between the first and second spray aerosol plumes. When the device includes a high voltage generator, tactile electrodes may be provided on the device for applying a high voltage shock in the event of physical contact with an attacker.
The personal defense device may include a heater for heating the source. The device may further include a temperature sensor for sensing the temperature of the source and means for energizing the heater when the sensed temperature is less than a predetermined value. A pressure sensor may be utilized for sensing the pressure in the source. If the pressure is insufficient for operation of the device, an indicator or alarm may be activated.
According to another feature of the invention, the personal defense device may include a security device for preventing use by unauthorized persons. Operation of the device may be inhibited unless a predetermined input, such as an identification code or a known fingerprint, is received.
According to another feature of the invention, the personal defense device may include a display for displaying status information relating to the operation of the personal defense device. The display may be optionally configured for displaying images.
According to a further feature of the invention, the personal defense device may include a wind sensor coupled to the firing controller for sensing wind direction and speed. The firing controller may include means for compensating the aerosol plume discharged by the device for sensed wind direction and speed.
The personal defense device may further include a manual override mechanism for discharging an aerosol plume in response to activation of the trigger mechanism, independently of the nozzle, the control valve, the rangefinder and the firing controller.
According to a further feature of the invention, the personal defense device may be provided with one or more cameras, including a forward camera for obtaining an image of the target and a rear camera for obtaining an image of the user. The cameras may be equipped with microphones, so that audio as well as images can be acquired.
The cameras may be activated by the trigger mechanism. Images of the target and of the user, and audio, may be stored in the personal defense device and/or transmitted to a monitoring station. The device may include an illuminator for each camera. The target illuminator may be caused to flicker so as to confuse and disorient the attacker. The target illuminator may also be utilized to assist in aiming the personal defense device at the attacker.
The personal defense device may include a wireless communication link for exchanging information with one or more monitoring stations. The device may transmit a user identification, a time and a date to the monitoring station. The personal defense device may include a system for establishing location, either independently or in conjunction with an external network based system. In such case, the device may also include means for transmitting location information directly or transmitting/receiving data to be used in establishing location as part of a network based system. In addition, status information and/or images and audio acquired by the cameras may be transmitted to the monitoring station on the wireless communication link. The personal defense device may operate with a local monitoring station and/or a remote monitoring station.
The trigger mechanism may activate different operating modes, including a ready mode and a fire mode. In the ready mode, the rangefinder, the cameras and all other sensors are activated and information, including images and audio, may be transmitted to the monitoring station. In the fire mode, all sensors continue to operate, and information is transmitted to the monitoring station with an increased level of priority indicated. In addition, the feedback control loop operates the control valve to discharge an aerosol plume in response to the sensed range and other parameters of interest. The high voltage generator, if present in the personal defense device, is activated in the fire mode.
According to another aspect of the invention, a security system is provided. The security system comprises a personal defense device as described above, a gimbal assembly for mounting the personal defense device in a selected location, and a monitoring station for controlling the gimbal assembly and the personal defense device. The gimbal assembly includes means for rotating and tilting the personal defense device for remote surveillance of a specific area and for firing of the device on demand, either manually or automatically.